It Was a Dark and …..Night

   We had a discount dining certificate, so we went to Jekyll Island last evening.

   After a great supper, we had time for some exploring, in the dusk and in the evening.

         Which way to go?

         We could choose the path of nature..

          Like going to the ocean, where we had our choice of light..

            Perhaps from across the sound..

                 Or from above.

                 Or going shopping

                  Everything for your stay..

                     Life is good here..

                      These folks would have felt at home..

                      Accommodations for all..

                      Perfect for Thanksgiving with the appropriate message..

                         We'll leave the light on for you…...

Predictability, But Maybe Just Singing...

   One thing I like about being able to be out early in the morning before the sun comes up (well, it really does not come up as you know), is to look up in the heavens (if it is clear) and see the stars in that black sky.

   Sometimes I even think that Orion is my friend. He is there, almost above my head, and his belt is obvious and recognizable. When I spot it, I can think that all is well. The predictability is comforting in a world that is not.

   Then there is the movement of the various stars around in the sky according to the date of our calendar. For the past several days now, I have watched as the planets of Venus, Jupiter and Mars have changed positions in these early morning Fall days.

   But they are not just random positions. Astronomers can tell us how they will be aligned on this morning, as they did on yesterday and they will be able to predict where they will be tomorrow.

   There is order up there.

   All by random chance, or intelligent design?

   I know that if I wake up early, and get out while it is still dark, and the sky is clear, I will be able to spot these stars and planets as they cycle through the seasons of the year. Their orbits are fixed in a solar system that we can know.

   I can make plans for my life. I can set them in motion, but I can't even know how each day will work out. Who will I meet? Where might I be? What will I be doing?

   Who knows, I might not even live out this day. Then what about my plans for tomorrow and the next day, month or year?

   Maybe I can be comforted by the order in God's universe, but the only way I can live each day in His peace is to realize that He is in control. His will for me is the best, and if I am in the middle of that Will, all will be OK.

   Should I just sing?

     

1. Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
   Praise Him, all creatures here below;
   Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
   Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen
 

 

Two Faces of Mercy

   I looked at a verse the other day, Micah 6:8:

" the Lord has told you what is good
    and this is what he requires of you:
    to do what is right, to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God"

   What does God require of me?

      "to do right"

      "to love mercy"

   What is mercy? The computer Dictionary says this:

"compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence:"

   There are at least two sides to mercy.

   God is merciful to us. His grace and mercy are much more than we will ever deserve.

   How merciful toward others should we be?

Sure, God's mercy trumps ours every time,

but,

where we can,

He commands us 

to go and do likewise.

Do Right

Love Mercy

A Simple Thing?

   A few days back, I woke up with this verse on my mind..Micah 6:8:

the Lord has told you what is good,
    and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
    and to walk humbly with your God.

   It was written in such a way that it matches my desire for an easy formula. "Just take this verse and live by it. You can do it, it is only 3 things you have to remember. It is the path to pleasing God."

   That is what I want. One verse, written on a 3x5 card, pasted to the front of my computer, waiting to be noticed and lived by.

   "to do what is right". Now that is straightforward, just do it.

   But what is right? Your right? My right? I think of the verse that says "they all did what was right in their own eyes". The world wants to say that Right is relative. Is it?

   What would Jesus say?

   The other morning, as I walked in the predawn darkness, I spotted some litter along the cart path. Some golfer must have left it or dropped it off his cart. It was dark, there was no one about, and I did not want to carry it with me to the next tee box where there was a trash container. So I walked on, telling myself that the grounds crew would get it when they came to cut grass or something.

   I got a few yards down the path toward home and thought, "this is not right, that thing should be picked up now regardless of how silly I might look to another walker, and its not far to the trash container anyway".

   So I did, and I could check off the first command from the verse. Now to go through the rest of the day in the same spirit. That could be hard, but at least I got off to the right start and just maybe I can remember that action as other things come along my path.

   How many times during one day do I have the opportunity to do right? In relationships, or in the effort put into a task.

   How many times do I even notice that there might be something to be done?

   Sure I want to live by that verse.

   Sure I want to please God in my life.

   It is the right thing to do

Angels on the Trace

   I have been reading a book, Not Without My Father: One Women's 444 Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace. An interesting story, but not really what I expected.

   Stories that are real, that show how a person can succeed on their own, especially ones that involve some physical quest and accomplishment, draw me into them. Their struggles and their discovery about  themselves. Real people doing real things.

   I was touched by an incident near the end of this book. An incident that I want to quote in its entirety. One that will stick with me for a long time.

   The author, Andra, began her trek at the southern end of the Natchez Trace, and, as she reached the end, a man, in his white SUV is parked beside the road. This conversation ensues:

   "Ma'am. You okay?" A man sat in a white SUV, his mouth obscured by a handlebar mustache. I took in the logo on the side of his ride. A federal ranger. The first one I'd encountered since Jackson, Mississippi, three fourths of the Natchez Trace Parkway.

   "I'm great. Been walking the Trace. This is my last day."

   "You come all the way from Natchez?" He leaned through the window and ran his fingers over the United States Government emblem.

   "Yeah. I started March 1." I held my breath and waited. Rangers south of Jackson greeted me with doubt. One even regaled me with the story of a couple who tried a through hike, only to be washed out at milepost 90. His tone dripped with, "And they were more fit than you".

   The first federal employee to admit I might succeed was a surveyor at milepost 222. It was radio silence from there.

   He pounded his door."We been talking about you for weeks! The maintenance crews have been cut back and all that-budget nonsense, you understand-but they've been doing extra runs without pay just for you. "Gotta check on our girl! Every day they've been following your trek on their own time."

   "Really?" I thought about the trash collectors I came upon at pull-offs, the foresters I encountered as they removed fallen trees and debris. The trucks that honked as they rattled past. When I talked to them, they said they were doing their jobs as well as they could with no funding, trying to preserve a forgotten place. I blinked back tears with the realization that underpaid, unappreciated people gave their own time and resources to make sure I was safe. To pave the way for me to finish. I swallowed. "Everybody's been following me?"

   "Yep. I'm so glad I got to meet you. And you're finishing today."

   Still shell-shocked, I nodded. "In about a mile. Yes".

   "Well. Good luck to you. We're all rooting for you, wherever you go from here."

   She had walked for a month on that road, and she never knew…

   Isn't that a picture of God's involvement in our lives?

   Just like the footprints-in-the-sand narrative, where the person asks God where he was when she was having all that trouble, as she told him about the one pair of footprints in the sand, and He replies that those footprints were His as He carried her through those times.

   He sent those angels on that road for Andra as she walked, and He is still in the helping business for us.

   And I am thankful.

 

Kermit and Me

   There was a verse that has been on my mind for a few days now..Psalm 92:14

"But the godly will flourish like palm trees
    and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.
13 For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house.
    They flourish in the courts of our God.
14 Even in old age they will still produce fruit;
    they will remain vital and green."

   Not the part about being godly (V.12) but more the part about being old.

   "Vital and Green"

   How about those words? We all want to be vital. Vital to something or someone. Like being in charge or a leader, but other younger folks are those leaders now. They have the energy and the push to get things done. They are the "up front" folks now.

   Mayre and I were on a little trip the past few days. Yesterday her first words as she woke up in a strange room, in the dark, were "Where am I?"

   As I explained the where and when and why, her comment "I am sure glad you are here to tell me all of this, otherwise I would have no clue."

   When I thought about that on the drive home, my mind went to Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street and his song,

It's not that easy being green;
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold-
or something much more colorful like that.

It's not easy being green.
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things.
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water-
or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of Spring.
And green can be cool and friendly-like.
And green can be big like a mountain, or important like a river, or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder? Why Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful!
And I think it's what I want to be.

   And I thought:

      Sometimes I want to be the flashy and bright and impress others with what I can do, but it is not where I am in life, or where I should be.

   I'm green and that is where I want to be...

A Rare Movie

   We do not go to movies often, but when a lot of our friends told us that we had to see this one, we went.

   I have see most of the Christian movies that have been on the screen recently. There is a church, I believe over in Albany, GA that began a few years back making films with a distinctly Bible flavor.

   Their first one was entitled Facing the Giants. The story line was good and the plot also, but the acting and direction was very amateurish. The message was great, but…

   Their second film was Fireproof, and it was better, a step up from the first.

   Now this one was professional. The message was good, and the cast and directing first class.

   The Movie is War Room, and we really enjoyed it.

      The story was plausible..

      The acting was very good..

      The directive action was fast paced..

      And the situations were right out of daily life with real life applications of Biblical Truth..

   Go See It! You can see a good movie, and be blessed at the same time.